Even when Peter Jackson decided he was splitting The Hobbit into two films instead of three, the ending of the first was a major point of discussion. Now with a third film looming as well, that debate has multiplied. Film two is called The Desolation of Smaug, suggesting the narrative of the novel itself could all but reach its conclusion before film number three, There And Back Again. Of course, that’s total speculation, as we don’t know precisely what other material Jackson & Co. have built in, and what they’ve created.

Either way, the first film, An Unexpected Journey, will need an ending that both satisfies audiences and gets them excited for its follow-up. A new mobile app might have revealed exactly what this ending is. Warner Bros.’ new app for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has revealed a huge wealth of behind the scenes images including one many feel would be a logical ending to the first film. Check out the images, including the possible spoiler and more, after the jump.

The Tolkien fans at The One Ring were the first people to talk about the app (available here) and put two and two together. Before we get to the spoiler, here’s a bunch of additional images from the app. Thanks to The Playlist.

And now I’l going to post the potental major spoiler…for the book that’s been out for almost 75 years,

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So this image has been seen before, as it was part of the long “scroll” image released around Comic Con. But the placement in the app is leading to the belief that it is the end of An Unexpected Journey.

If we’re lead to believe this scene above is the ending, it’s from about 100 pages into the 270 page book, when Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves pass the Misty Mountains and are confronted by the Wargs and Goblins. They hide, the Eagles save them, they meet up with Beorn and Gandalf leaves. It’s a logical break in the narrative as it’s an action sequence, you’re introduced to a major new character and the story takes a break. In Tolkien’s book, though, our heroes don’t do that much fighting but it seems like maybe Jackson amped that up.

However, if this indeed is the ending of An Unexpected Journey, there’s still almost 200 pages of book to go with only one movie down. That suggests the third film will include much of the Smaug material, and that each film could be considerably shorter than the Lord of the Rings movies.

What do you think about these images and the possible ending of An Unexpected Journey?